Vehicle and Control Method Thereof

ABSTRACT

An embodiment vehicle includes a camera and a controller configured to determine a distance between the camera and a face of an object based on a face image acquired by the camera, perform an iris authentication based on the distance being shorter than a preset distance, and perform a face authentication based on the distance being greater than the preset distance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2022-0018211, filed on Feb. 11, 2022, which application is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a vehicle and a control method thereof.

BACKGROUND

Face authentication technology, which is one of the biometricauthentication technologies, is an authentication technology ofdetermining whether a user is a valid user based on a user’s face.

Also, iris authentication technology, which is one of the biometricauthentication technologies, is an authentication technology ofdetermining whether a user is a valid user based on a user’s irisdisplayed in a still image or moving image.

Recently, the face authentication technology and the iris authenticationtechnology are widely used in various application fields such assecurity systems, mobile authentication systems, and vehicle access andstarting systems, due to the convenience and efficiency of faceauthentication technology and iris authentication technology.

However, a user is required to maintain an appropriate distance from acamera so that the eyes, nose and mouth of the user are all exposed forface authentication, and keep a close distance to a camera to accuratelyexpose an iris pattern for iris authentication.

SUMMARY

The disclosure relates to a vehicle and a control method thereof.Particular embodiments relate to a vehicle and a control method thereofthat may selectively utilize a face authentication and an irisauthentication.

An embodiment of the disclosure provides a vehicle and a control methodthat may flexibly cope with a change in a user’s appearance andsurrounding environment by selectively utilizing a face authenticationand an iris authentication.

Additional embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth in part inthe description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided avehicle that includes a camera configured to acquire a face image of anobject and a controller configured to perform at least one of a faceauthentication or an iris authentication based on the face image,wherein the controller is configured to determine a distance between thecamera and a face of the object based on the face image, perform theiris authentication based on the distance being shorter than a presetdistance, and perform the face authentication based on the distancebeing greater than the preset distance.

Also, the controller is configured to identify positions of eyes of theobject in the face image, and to control the camera to zoom in on thepositions of the eyes of the object to perform the iris authentication.

Also, the vehicle further includes a user interface, and the controlleris configured to control the user interface to provide at least one of avisual feedback or an audible feedback for guiding the face of theobject to approach the camera based on a failure of the faceauthentication, and to perform the iris authentication after providingat least one of the visual feedback or the audible feedback.

Also, the controller is configured to, based on a similarity scorebetween a reference face image and the face image which causes thefailure of the face authentication being greater than or equal to apreset score, and the iris authentication being successful, store theface image which causes the failure of the face authentication as one ofthe reference face images which is a determination criterion for theface authentication.

Also, the vehicle further includes at least one distance sensorconfigured to have a detection direction corresponding to a field ofview of the camera, and the controller is configured to perform the irisauthentication based on a distance to an obstacle measured through theat least one distance sensor being less than or equal to a referencedistance.

Also, the controller is configured to detect eyes, a nose and a mouth ofthe object based on the face image, and perform the iris authentication,based on the eyes of the object being detected from the face image andat least one of the nose or the mouth of the object not being detectedfrom the face image.

Also, the controller is configured to determine whether the object iswearing a mask based on the face image and perform the irisauthentication based on a determination that the object is wearing themask.

Also, the controller is configured to determine the distance between thecamera and the face of the object based on sizes of the face or eyes ofthe object detected from the face image.

Also, the vehicle further includes a contact sensor provided on a doorhandle, and the controller is configured to wake up the camera based ona contact detected by the contact sensor.

Also, the controller is configured to unlock a door based on the faceauthentication or the iris authentication being successful.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided acontrol method of a vehicle, the control method including acquiring aface image of an object through a camera and performing at least one ofa face authentication or an iris authentication based on the face image,wherein the performing of the face authentication or the irisauthentication includes determining a distance between the camera and aface of the object based on the face image, performing the irisauthentication based on the distance being shorter than a presetdistance, and performing the face authentication based on the distancebeing greater than the preset distance.

Also, the performing of the iris authentication includes identifyingpositions of eyes of the object in the face image and performing theiris authentication after controlling the camera to zoom in on thepositions of the eyes of the object.

Also, the control method further includes providing at least one of avisual feedback or an audible feedback for guiding the face of theobject to approach the camera based on a failure of the faceauthentication and performing the iris authentication after providing atleast one of the visual feedback or the audible feedback.

Also, the control method further includes, based on a similarity scorebetween a reference face image and the face image which causes thefailure of the face authentication being greater than or equal to apreset score and the iris authentication being successful, storing theface image which causes the failure of the face authentication as one ofthe reference face images which is a determination criterion for theface authentication.

Also, the performing of the face authentication or the irisauthentication includes performing the iris authentication based on adistance to an obstacle measured through at least one distance sensor,which is configured to have a detection direction corresponding to afield of view of the camera, being less than or equal to a referencedistance.

Also, the performing of the face authentication or the irisauthentication includes detecting eyes, a nose and a mouth of the objectbased on the face image and performing the iris authentication, based onthe eyes of the object being detected from the face image and at leastone of the nose or the mouth of the object not being detected from theface image.

Also, the performing of the face authentication or the irisauthentication includes determining whether the object is wearing a maskbased on the face image and performing the iris authentication based ona determination that the object is wearing the mask.

Also, the determining of the distance between the camera and the face ofthe object includes determining the distance between the camera and theface of the object based on sizes of the face or eyes of the objectdetected from the face image.

Also, the control method further includes waking up the camera based ona contact detected by a contact sensor provided on a door handle.

Also, the control method further includes unlocking a door based on theface authentication or the iris authentication being successful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other embodiments of the disclosure will become apparentand more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplaryembodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exterior of a vehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a vehicleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a state where a distance between a camera and a faceof an object is greater than a preset distance;

FIG. 5 illustrates a state where a distance between a camera and a faceof an object is shorter than a preset distance;

FIG. 6 illustrates a state where an obstacle is present next to avehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an object’s face image obtained by acamera according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of an object’s face image obtained bya camera according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Advantages and features of embodiments and methods of achieving the samewill be clearly understood with reference to the accompanying drawingsand the following detailed embodiments. However, the present inventiveconcept is not limited to embodiments described herein, but may beimplemented in various different forms. Embodiments are provided inorder to explain the present inventive concept for those skilled in theart. The scope of the present inventive concept is defined by theappended claims.

The terms used herein will be briefly described and embodiments will bedescribed in detail.

Although the terms used herein are selected from among general termsthat are currently and widely used in consideration of functions inembodiments, these may be changed according to intentions or customs ofthose skilled in the art or the advent of new technology. In addition,in a specific case, some terms may be arbitrarily selected byapplicants. In this case, meanings thereof will be described in acorresponding description of embodiments. Therefore, the meanings ofterms used herein should be interpreted based on substantial meanings ofthe terms and content of this entire specification, rather than simplythe terms themselves.

Throughout this specification, when a certain part “includes” a certaincomponent, it means that another component may be further included notexcluding another component unless otherwise defined. Moreover, termsdescribed in the specification such as “part” refer to a unit ofprocessing at least one function or operation and may be implemented bysoftware, a hardware component such as a field-programmable gate array(FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or acombination of software and hardware. However, the term “part” is notlimited to software or hardware. “Part” may be configured in a recordingmedium that may be addressed or may be configured to be reproduced on atleast one processor. Therefore, examples of the term “part” includessoftware components, object-oriented software components, componentssuch as class components and task components, processes, functions,properties, procedures, subroutines, segments in program codes, drivers,firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables,arrays, and variables. The components and the modules may be providedinto a smaller number of components and modules such that the respectivecomponent and modules may be merged in respect to the functionality.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle 1 and a control method of thevehicle 1 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In addition, parts irrelevant to the description are omittedin the drawings in order to clearly explain embodiments. In theaccompanying drawings, parts that are identical or equivalent to eachother will be given the same reference numerals, and in the followingdescription of the embodiments, details of redundant descriptionsthereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicleaccording to an embodiment. FIG. 2 illustrates an exterior of a vehicleaccording to an embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the vehicle 1 may include a sensor unit110, a controller 120, a user interface 130, and an access and startingsystem 140.

The sensor unit 110 may include at least one sensor for obtainingsurrounding information of the vehicle 1, information about an inside ofthe vehicle 1, and information about the vehicle 1 itself.

For example, the sensor unit 110 may include a camera 111 acquiring aface image of an object by photographing a face of the object locatedoutside the vehicle 1, at least one distance sensor 112 detecting adistance to an obstacle around the vehicle 1, and/or a contact sensor113 provided on a door handle of the vehicle 1.

The camera 111 may be mounted at a location to easily capture the faceof the object located around the vehicle 1. For example, the camera 111may be provided on an A-pillar and/or B-pillar at a driver’s seat sideto capture the object located outside a door of the vehicle 1, withoutbeing limited thereto.

In an embodiment, the camera 111 may include a first camera 111Lprovided on the driver’s seat side and/or a second camera 111R providedon a passenger seat side.

The camera 111 may refer to any configuration capable of acquiring aface image of an object. For example, the camera 111 may employ acomplementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor or acharge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor.

According to various embodiments, the camera 111 may include a nearinfrared (IR) camera to perform an iris authentication as well as a faceauthentication. The near IR camera may include an infrared projectorthat irradiates infrared rays toward an object and an infrared sensorthat detects an infrared signal emitted from the infrared projectorreflected back from an object.

Also, the camera 111 may be equipped with a zoom-in function and azoom-out function. For example, the camera 111 may enlarge a set regionof interest.

The camera 111 may operate based on a control signal of the controller120 and transmit the face image of the object to the controller 120.

Accordingly, the controller 120 may perform the face authentication orthe iris authentication based on the face image of the object.

In addition, the camera 111 may zoom in on the set region of interestbased on the control signal of the controller 120.

In embodiments of the present specification, the face image of theobject refers to an image including a part of the object’s face.

The at least one distance sensor 112 may measure a distance to anobstacle located around the vehicle 1. For example, the at least onedistance sensor 112 may include at least one ultrasonic sensor 112Ra and112La and/or at least one camera 112Lb and 112Rb.

The at least one ultrasonic sensor 112Ra and 112La may have a detectionarea facing an outside of the vehicle 1, detect an obstacle locatedadjacent to the vehicle 1, and measure a distance to the obstacle bytransmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.

In an embodiment, the at least one ultrasonic sensor 112Ra and 112La mayhave a detection direction corresponding to a respective field of view(or shooting direction) of the camera 111.

Also, the at least one camera 112Lb and 112Rb may have a field of viewcorresponding to a respective field of view of the camera 111.

For example, the at least one first ultrasonic sensor 112La provided atthe driver’s seat side may have a detection direction (e.g., the side ofthe driver’s seat) corresponding to a field of view of the first camera111L, and the at least one second ultrasonic sensor 112Ra provided atthe passenger seat side may have a detection direction (e.g., the sideof the passenger seat) corresponding to a field of view of the secondcamera 111R.

The at least one ultrasonic sensor 112Ra and 112La may be employed as anultrasonic sensor used for a parking assistance system (PAS) of thevehicle 1, without being limited thereto.

Also, the left camera 112Lb provided on the side of the driver’s seatmay have a field of view corresponding to the field of view of the firstcamera 111L, and the right camera 112Rb provided on the side of thepassenger seat may have a field of view (e.g., the side of the passengerseat) corresponding to the field of view of the second camera 111R.

For example, the left camera 112Lb and the right camera 112Rb may beprovided on a left side mirror and a right side mirror, respectively,without being limited thereto.

The left camera 112Lb and the right camera 112Rb may be employed as acamera used for a surround view monitor (SVM) system of the vehicle 1,without being limited thereto.

The distance sensor 112 may transmit information about the distance tothe obstacle around the vehicle 1 to the controller 120.

The contact sensor 113 may be provided on a door handle and employ anysensor capable of detecting a driver’s contact with the door handle.

For example, the contact sensor 113 may include a capacitive sensorwhose capacitance changes depending on contact and/or a touch sensor.

The controller 120 may include at least one memory storing a programperforming the aforementioned operations or operations to be describedlater and at least one processor implementing a stored program.

When the controller 120 includes a plurality of memories and a pluralityof processors, the plurality of memories and the plurality of processorsmay be integrated into one chip or may be physically separated. Inaddition, the controller 120 may include an image processor forprocessing an image acquired from the camera 111.

For example, the controller 120 may compare the face image, acquiredthrough the camera 111, with a reference face image stored in the memoryto perform face authentication for authenticating the object.

In an embodiment, the controller 120 may perform image pre-processing onthe object’s face image. The image preprocessing process may include oneor more processes of processing the object’s face image to have a formmore suitable for face authentication. For example, the imagepreprocessing process may include a process of removing noise includedin the object’s face image, a process of increasing the contrast of theobject’s face image, a deblurring process of removing blur included inthe object’s face image, a process of removing a background region, awarping process of correcting distortion included in the object’s faceimage, and a process of binarizing the object’s face image.

The controller 120 may detect a face region in the object’s face image.The controller 120 may detect the face region in the object’s face imageusing, for example, a Haar-based cascade AdaBoost classifier, a neuralnetwork-based classifier, a support vector machine, or the like.However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto, and thecontroller 120 may detect a face region from an object’s face imageusing various face region detection techniques.

The controller 120 may normalize the detected face region. In anembodiment, the controller 120 may detect facial feature points (faciallandmarks) in the detected facial region and normalize the facial regionbased on the detected feature points. The controller 120 may detectfacial landmarks in the face region, for example, using active contourmodel (ACM), active shape model (ASM), active appearance model (AAM),supervised descent method (SDM), a feature-point detection techniquebased on a neural network, or the like. The facial feature points arefeature points for major parts of a face, which are provided toidentify, for example, the eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, chin, ears, orcontours of a face. Normalization may include, for example, an imagecropping process of extracting a face image representing a face regionfrom the object’s face image, a process of matching the positions offeature points detected in the face region to predefined referencepositions, and a process of adjusting the size of the extracted faceregion. As an example, the face image extracted from the object’s faceimage may have a form of a patch image. The controller 120 may match thepositions of the feature points to the reference positions by performingaffine transformation based on the detected positions of the featurepoints. Here, the affine transformation serves to map a vector spacerepresented by the positions of the feature points to another vectorspace.

The controller 120 may compare facial feature points of a user extractedfrom the object’s face image with feature points extracted from thereference face image, to compare the object’s face image with thereference face image, and according to a result of the comparison,calculate a similarity score.

The similarity score is a score that quantifies a similarity between thefacial feature points of the user extracted from the object’s face imageand the feature points extracted from the reference face image and maybe calculated based on the similarity of the feature points.

The similarity score may increase as the difference between featurevalues of the facial feature points of the user extracted from theobject’s face image and feature values of the feature points extractedfrom the reference face image becomes smaller, and the similarity scoremay decrease as the difference becomes larger.

The controller 120 may employ various algorithms to calculate thesimilarity score between the object’s face image and the reference faceimage. For example, the controller 120 may execute an algorithm forcomparing the feature values of the facial feature points of the userextracted from the object’s face image with the feature values of thefeature points extracted from the reference face image.

According to various embodiments, the controller 120 may calculate thesimilarity score between the object’s face image and the reference faceimage using a learning model trained by machine learning.

The controller 120 may determine that the face authentication issuccessful, based on the similarity score between the object’s faceimage and the reference face image being greater than or equal to apreset threshold value, and determine that the face authentication failsbased on the similarity score being less than the preset thresholdvalue.

As such, the controller 120 calculates the similarity score by comparingthe facial feature points (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) included inthe object’s face image with the feature points included in thereference face image. Accordingly, when the object desires to performface authentication, the object is required to maintain an appropriatedistance from the camera 111 so that all of the facial feature pointsare included.

As another example, the controller 120 may acquire iris information ofthe object from the object’s face image obtained through the camera 111and compare the acquired iris information with reference irisinformation stored in a memory, thereby performing iris authenticationfor authenticating the object.

To this end, the controller 120 may identify eyes of the object in theobject’s face image and compare the iris information extracted from aniris region in an eye region with the reference iris informationpre-stored in the memory. Also, when a similarity between the irisinformation generated from the iris region and the pre-stored referenceiris information is greater than or equal to a threshold value, thecontroller 120 may determine that the iris authentication is successful.

By contrast, when the similarity between the iris information generatedfrom the iris region and the pre-stored reference iris information isless than the threshold value, the controller 120 may determine that theiris authentication fails.

In this instance, the threshold value for similarity refers to areference value for determining whether the iris authentication issuccessful.

According to various embodiments, the controller 120 may calculate asimilarity between the iris information of the object and the referenceiris information using a learning model trained by machine learning.

Each of the iris information generated from the iris region and thereference iris information pre-stored in the memory may include irispattern data representing an iris pattern.

That is, the controller 120 may calculate a similarity between irisdata, representing an iris pattern included in the iris informationextracted from the iris region of the object’s face image, and irispattern data representing an iris pattern included in the reference irisinformation pre-stored in the memory.

In order for the controller 120 to generate the iris data from the irisregion of the object’s face image, a high-definition image for the irisregion is required.

Accordingly, when the object desires to perform authentication throughiris authentication, the object’s eyes are required to be positionedclose to the camera 111.

The reference face image serving as a criterion for face authenticationand the reference iris information serving as a criterion for irisauthentication may be registered by a user of the vehicle 1 in advance.

For example, the user of the vehicle 1 may register the user’s irisinformation and facial information in the memory of the controller 120through an inputter (e.g., an audio video navigation (AVN) device)provided in the vehicle 1.

The controller 120 may control the user interface 130 and/or the accessand starting system 140, based on whether the face authentication issuccessful and/or whether the iris authentication is successful.

As an example, based on the face authentication being successful, thecontroller 120 may control the user interface 130 to provide a visualfeedback and/or an audible feedback for notifying that the faceauthentication is successful. Also, based on the face authenticationbeing successful, the controller 120 may control the access and startingsystem 140 to unlock a door.

The user interface 130 may include a display 131 for providing a visualfeedback indicating a result of the face authentication and/or the irisauthentication, and/or a speaker 132 for providing an audible feedbackindicating a result of the face authentication and/or the irisauthentication.

The display 131 may include at least one display. The at least onedisplay may be a light emitting diode (LED) panel, an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel,and/or an indicator.

The display 131 may output a visual indication indicating anauthentication result of the face authentication and/or the irisauthentication. For example, the vehicle 1 may notify the user of asuccess or failure of the face authentication through illumination ofthe indicator.

The display 131 may be provided adjacent to the camera 111 to allow theuser to intuitively recognize a process of the face authenticationand/or the iris authentication.

The speaker 132 may output a sound indicating an authentication resultof the face authentication and/or the iris authentication.

The access and starting system 140 may lock/unlock the door or start thevehicle 1 based on an authentication result of the controller 120.

For example, based on the face authentication and/or the irisauthentication being successful, the access and starting system 140 mayunlock the door, or start the vehicle 1.

The sensor unit 110, the controller 120, the user interface 130, and theaccess and starting system 140 may communicate with each other through avehicle communication network. For example, the sensor unit 110, thecontroller 120, the user interface 130, and the access and startingsystem 140 may exchange data through Ethernet, media oriented systemstransport (MOST), FlexRay, controller area network (CAN), localinterconnect network (LIN), and the like.

Although various components of the vehicle 1 have been described above,a new configuration may be added or a described configuration may beomitted within the scope of the conventional technology.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a vehicleaccording to an embodiment.

According to various embodiments, the controller 120 may wake up thecamera 111, based on a preset wake-up condition being satisfied (1000).

For example, the controller 120 may wake up the camera 111 based on acontact being detected by the contact sensor 113 provided on a doorhandle. As another example, the controller 120 may wake up the camera111 based on an object approaching the vehicle 1 being detected by thedistance sensor 112.

However, conditions for waking up the camera 111 are not limitedthereto.

In an embodiment, the camera 111 operates only when a wake-up conditionis satisfied, thereby reducing power consumption.

The camera 111 may acquire a face image of an object (1100) based on thecamera 111 being woken up. For example, the camera 111 may consecutivelyacquire the object’s face image for a preset period of time (e.g., twoseconds) and transmit the acquired face image to the controller 120.

The controller 120 may process the face image based on the face imageacquired from the camera 111 and determine whether to use a faceauthentication or an iris authentication based on a result ofprocessing.

That is, the controller 120 may perform the face authentication or theiris authentication based on the object’s face image and select anoptimal authentication method according to whether a preset condition issatisfied.

For example, the controller 120 may perform the iris authentication asan authentication method (1600) based on the preset condition beingsatisfied (Yes in operation 1200).

By contrast, the controller 120 may perform the face authentication asan authentication method (1300) based on the preset condition not beingsatisfied (No in operation 1200).

The preset condition for selecting the authentication method may bestored in the memory of the controller 120 in advance.

As an example, the preset condition may include a condition related to aface image and/or a condition related to an obstacle located next to thevehicle 1.

For instance, the face image-related condition may include a conditionrelated to a distance between the camera 111 and an object’s face and/ora condition related to an object’s feature points included in the faceimage.

Also, the condition related to an obstacle located next to the vehicle 1may include a condition related to a distance between the vehicle 1 andthe obstacle.

FIG. 4 illustrates a state where a distance between a camera and a faceof an object is greater than a preset distance. FIG. 5 illustrates astate where a distance between a camera and a face of an object isshorter than a preset distance.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 , in an embodiment, the controller 120 maydetermine a distance between the camera 111 and a face of an objectbased on a face image of the object and determine that a presetcondition is satisfied based on the distance between the camera 111 andthe object’s face being shorter than a preset distance.

That is, based on the distance between the camera 111 and the objectbeing shorter than the preset distance (Yes in operation 1200), thecontroller 120 may perform the iris authentication (1600), and based onthe distance between the camera 111 and the object being greater thanthe preset distance (No in operation 1200), the controller 120 mayperform the face authentication (1300).

In this instance, the preset distance may be set to a distance suitablefor performing the iris authentication, for example, approximately 20cm, without being limited thereto.

To this end, the controller 120 may determine the distance between thecamera 111 and the object’s face based on size of the face or eyes ofthe object detected from the face image.

As the size of the object’s face detected from the face image increases,or as the sizes of the object’s eyes increases, it is estimated that theobject is closer to the camera 111.

Accordingly, as the size of the object’s face and/or the sizes of theobject’s eyes detected from the face image increases, the controller 120may determine that the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface is shorter.

Referring to FIG. 4 , it may be confirmed that a distance between thecamera 111 and an object’s face is greater than a preset distance. Inthis circumstance, a face image of the object acquired from the camera111 may include all the feature points of the object and the object ishighly likely to have an intention to perform identity authenticationthrough face authentication.

Accordingly, the controller 120 may normalize a detected face region anddetect facial feature points from the detected face region.

When the facial feature points may be detected from the object’s faceimage, the face authentication may be performed by comparing the facialfeature points of the object with feature points extracted from areference face image.

By contrast, when the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface is rather long, a clear iris pattern may not be obtained from theobject’s face image.

Accordingly, when the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface is greater than the preset distance, the controller 120 may performthe face authentication rather than the iris authentication.

Based on the face authentication being selected as an authenticationmethod, the controller 120 may control the user interface 130 to outputa notification indicating that the face authentication is to beperformed.

For example, the controller 120 may control the display 131 to output avisual indication indicating that the face authentication is inprogress.

As another example, the controller 120 may control the speaker 132 tooutput a sound indicating that the face authentication is in progress.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the object may recognize anauthentication method automatically selected by the vehicle and adjust aposition of the object’s face according to the selected authenticationmethod.

Referring to FIG. 5 , it may be confirmed that a distance between thecamera 111 and an object’s face is shorter than a preset distance. Inthis circumstance, a face image of the object acquired from the camera111 may include a portion of feature points of the object and the objectis highly likely to have an intention to perform identity authenticationthrough iris authentication.

Accordingly, the controller 120 may neither normalize a detected faceregion nor detect facial feature points from the detected face region.

When the facial feature points may not be detected from the object’sface image, face authentication based on comparison between the facialfeature points of the object with feature points extracted from areference face image may not be performed.

By contrast, when the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface is rather short, a clear iris pattern may be obtained from theobject’s face image.

Accordingly, when the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface is shorter than the preset distance, the controller 120 may performthe iris authentication rather than the face authentication.

Based on the iris authentication being selected as an authenticationmethod, the controller 120 may control the user interface 130 to outputa notification indicating that the iris authentication is to beperformed.

For example, the controller 120 may control the display 131 to output avisual indication indicating that the iris authentication is inprogress. In this instance, the visual indication indicating that theiris authentication is in progress may be different from the visualindication indicating that the face authentication is in progress.

As another example, the controller 120 may control the speaker 132 tooutput a sound indicating that the iris authentication is in progress.In this instance, the sound indicating that the iris authentication isin progress may be different from the sound indicating that the faceauthentication is in progress.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the object may recognize anauthentication method automatically selected by the vehicle and adjust aposition of the object’s face according to the selected authenticationmethod.

Also, according to embodiments of the disclosure, a more suitableauthentication method may be selected from the face authentication andthe iris authentication according to the distance between the camera andthe object’s face, thereby improving user convenience as well as anauthentication rate.

FIG. 6 illustrates a state where an obstacle is present next to avehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6 , in an embodiment, the controller 120 may detect adistance to an obstacle through at least one distance sensor having adetection direction corresponding to a field of view of the camera 111that acquires a face image of an object.

For example, when an object’s face image is acquired through the firstcamera 111L, the at least one distance sensor 112 having a detectiondirection corresponding to a field of view of the first camera 111L mayinclude at least one first ultrasonic sensor 112La and/or the leftcamera 112Lb.

In an embodiment, the controller 120 may determine that a presetcondition is satisfied based on a distance L to an obstacle ob measuredthrough the distance sensor 112 being less than or equal to a referencedistance.

That is, based on the distance L to the obstacle ob measured through thedistance sensor 112 being less than or equal to the reference distance(Yes in operation 1200), the controller 120 may perform the irisauthentication (1600). In this instance, the reference distance may beset to a distance at which the object’s face is hardly far away from thecamera 111, for example, approximately 80 cm, without being limitedthereto.

When the obstacle ob is closely located next to the vehicle 1, a usermay neither walk between the obstacle ob and the vehicle 1 nor maintaina distance between the camera 111 and the user’s face.

In this instance, the obstacle ob may refer to a fixed obstacle such asa wall, column, or another vehicle.

Accordingly, the user is highly likely to have an intention to use theiris authentication requiring exposure of eyes only, rather than theface authentication requiring exposure of an entire face.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the iris authentication maybe selected when the distance to the obstacle measured through thedistance sensor is less than or equal to the reference distance, therebyimproving user convenience.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an object’s face image obtained by acamera according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 illustrates another example ofan object’s face image obtained by a camera according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 , in an embodiment, the controller 120 maydetect eyes, a noise and a mouth of an object based on a face image ofthe object and determine that a preset condition is satisfied based onthe object’s eyes being detected and based on at least one of theobject’s nose or mouth not being detected from the face image.

That is, based on the object’s eyes being detected and based on the atleast one of the object’s nose or mouth not being detected from the faceimage (Yes in operation 1200), the controller 120 may perform the irisauthentication (1600). Also, based on all of the object’s eyes, nose andmouth being detected from the face image (No in operation 1200), thecontroller 120 may perform the face authentication (1300).

According to various embodiments, the controller 120 may determinewhether the object is wearing a mask based on the face image and performthe iris authentication (1600) based on a determination that the objectis wearing a mask (Yes in operation 1200).

Referring to FIG. 7 , it may be confirmed that the object’s eyes andnose but not the object’s mouth are detected from an object’s face imagek1.

Accordingly, when the face authentication is performed based on the faceimage k1 shown in FIG. 7 , an authentication rate may be significantlylow.

Thus, the controller 120 may perform the iris authentication, based onthe object’s eyes and nose being detected from the face image k1 and theobject’s mouth not being detected.

Referring to FIG. 8 , it may be confirmed that a mask is detected froman object’s face image k2.

Accordingly, when the face authentication is performed based on the faceimage k2 shown in FIG. 8 , an authentication rate may be significantlylow.

Thus, the controller 120 may perform the iris authentication based on adetermination that the object detected from the object’s face image k2is wearing a mask.

In an embodiment, when the iris authentication is selected as anauthentication method, the controller 120 may determine positions of theobject’s eyes in the face image and perform the iris authenticationafter controlling the camera 111 to zoom in on the positions of theobject’s eyes (1600).

However, when the iris authentication is selected based on the distancebetween the camera 111 and the object’s face being shorter than thepreset distance, because the camera 111 captures the object’s eyeswithin a sufficiently close distance, even without using a zoom-infunction of the camera 111, a clear iris pattern may be secured.

Thus, according to various embodiments, the controller 120 may performthe iris authentication after controlling the camera 111 to zoom in onthe positions of the object’s eyes, when performing the irisauthentication based on a distance L to an obstacle ob measured throughthe distance sensor 112 being less than or equal to a referencedistance, and/or when performing the iris authentication based on theobject’s eyes being detected and at least one of the object’s nose ormouth not being detected, and/or when performing the iris authenticationbased on a determination that the object detected from the face image iswearing a mask.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, by using the zoom-infunction of the camera 111, an enlarged eye image of the object may beobtained, and thus a clear iris pattern may be acquired and anauthentication rate may be improved.

In an embodiment, when the iris authentication is selected as anauthentication method, the controller 120 may control the user interface130 to provide a visual feedback or an audible feedback so that theobject’s face approaches the camera 111 and perform the irisauthentication after providing the visual feedback or the audiblefeedback (1600).

However, when the iris authentication is selected as an authenticationmethod based on the distance between the camera 111 and the object’sface being shorter than the preset distance, because the camera 111captures the object’s eyes within a sufficiently close distance, evenwithout providing a guide to approach the camera 111, a clear irispattern may be secured.

Thus, the controller 120 may perform the iris authentication aftercontrolling the user interface 130 to provide the visual feedback or theaudible feedback so that the object’s face approaches the camera 111,when performing the iris authentication based on a distance L to anobstacle ob measured through the distance sensor 112 being less than orequal to a reference distance, and/or when performing the irisauthentication based on the object’s eyes being detected and at leastone of the object’s nose or mouth not being detected, and/or whenperforming the iris authentication based on a determination that theobject detected from the face image is wearing a mask.

According to various embodiments, the controller 120 may control theuser interface 130 to provide the visual feedback or the audiblefeedback so that the object’s face approaches the camera 111 based onthe sizes of the object’s eyes detected from the face image being lessthan or equal to a preset size.

Referring again to FIG. 3 , as described above, the controller 120 mayperform the face authentication (1300) based on the preset condition notbeing satisfied (No in operation 1200).

Specifically, the controller 120 may determine that the faceauthentication is successful, based on a similarity score between theobject’s face image and a reference face image being greater than orequal to a preset threshold value and determine that the faceauthentication fails based on the similarity score being less than thepreset threshold value.

Based on the face authentication being successful (Yes in operation1400), the controller 120 may transmit an authentication success messageto at least one electronic control unit so that a function of thevehicle 1 related to the authentication success is to be performed.

For example, the controller 120 may control the access and startingsystem 140 to unlock a door (1900) based on the face authenticationbeing successful (Yes in operation 1400).

By contrast, the controller 120 may change the authentication method tothe iris authentication based on the face authentication having failedthe preset number of times (No in operation 1400).

To this end, based on the failure of the face authentication (No inoperation 1400), the controller 120 may control the user interface 130to provide a visual feedback or an audible feedback for notifying thefailure of face authentication (1500).

In an embodiment, when the authentication method is changed from theface authentication to the iris authentication due to the failure offace authentication, based on the face authentication having failed (Noin operation 1400), the controller 120 may control the user interface130 to provide the visual feedback or the audible feedback so that theobject’s face approaches the camera 111 (1500).

The controller 120 may perform the iris authentication (1600), afterproviding the visual feedback or the audible feedback so that theobject’s face approaches the camera 111.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, when the face authenticationfails, the authentication method may be automatically changed to theiris authentication, instead of still employing the face authenticationshowing a low authentication rate, thereby improving user convenience.

According to various embodiments, when the similarity score between theobject’s face image for which the face authentication fails and thereference face image, which is a determination criterion for the faceauthentication, is greater than or equal to a preset score, thecontroller 120 may store the object’s face image for which the faceauthentication fails in the memory.

In this instance, the preset score may be set to a value less than athreshold value preset for determining whether the face authenticationis successful.

That is, the preset score may be set to a score to the extent that theobject is determined as a user having an appearance similar to that of alegitimate user, even though the object is not certainly determined as alegitimate user.

For example, when the similarity score is greater than or equal to 0.8,the controller 120 may determine that the face authentication issuccessful, and when the similarity score is greater than or equal to0.7 and less than 0.8, determine that the face authentication fails, andtemporarily store the object’s face image.

When the preset condition is satisfied (Yes in operation 1200) and/orwhen the face authentication fails (No in operation 1400), thecontroller 120 may perform the iris authentication (1600).

As described above, the controller 120 may acquire iris information fromthe object’s face image and authenticate the object by comparing theacquired iris information with the reference iris information stored inthe memory.

When a similarity between the iris information of the object and thereference iris information is less than a threshold value (No inoperation 1700), the controller 120 may determine that the irisauthentication fails.

Based on the failure of the iris authentication (No in operation 1700),the controller 120 may control the user interface 130 to provide avisual feedback or an audible feedback for notifying that the irisauthentication fails (1800).

By contrast, based on the iris authentication being successful (Yes inoperation 1700), the controller 120 may transmit an authenticationsuccess message to at least one electronic control unit so that afunction of the vehicle 1 related to the authentication success is to beperformed.

For example, the controller 120 may control the access and startingsystem 140 to unlock a door (1900) based on the iris authenticationbeing successful (Yes in operation 1700).

According to various embodiments, when the authentication method ischanged from the face authentication to the iris authentication due tothe failure of face authentication (No in operation 1400), thecontroller 120 may store the object’s face image for which the faceauthentication fails as the reference face image, based on thesimilarity score between the face image for which the faceauthentication fails and the reference face image being greater than orequal to the preset score and based on the iris authentication beingsuccessful (Yes in operation 1700).

A similarity score between the reference face image and the object’sface image, used in the face authentication process performed before theiris authentication is successful, is greater than or equal to thepreset score, which indicates that the object is estimated as a userhaving an appearance similar to that of a legitimate user, despite notbeing certain as the legitimate user. When the object is authenticatedas the legitimate user as a result of the iris authentication performed,it is estimated that the object’s face image, used in the faceauthentication process performed before the iris authentication issuccessful, is a face image of the legitimate user.

Thus, in an embodiment, when the object’s face image for which the faceauthentication fails is determined as a face image of a legitimate user,the controller 120 may store the object’s face image for which the faceauthentication fails as the reference face image, thereby robustlyenhancing an authentication success rate of face authentication despitea change in the user’s appearance or environmental conditions around thevehicle 1.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, even when a faceauthentication fails, an iris authentication may be performed as anauxiliary authentication means, thereby improving user convenience.

Also, according to embodiments of the disclosure, a face authenticationor an iris authentication may be selectively utilized depending on adistance between a camera and a user, thereby improving anauthentication success rate.

Further, according to embodiments of the disclosure, an object’s faceimage estimated as a legitimate user may be automatically updated to areference face image, thereby improving a face authentication system tobe more robust to changes in the user’s appearance.

Meanwhile, a portion of constituent components of the vehicle 1 may be asoftware component and/or a hardware component, such as a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) and an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC).

Embodiments can be stored in the form of a recording medium storingcomputer-executable instructions. The instructions may be stored in theform of a program code, and when executed by a processor, theinstructions may perform operations of the disclosed embodiments. Therecording medium may be implemented as a computer-readable recordingmedium.

The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recordingmedia in which instructions which may be decoded by a computer arestored of, for example, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory(RAM), magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, flash memories, an opticalrecording medium, and the like.

As is apparent from the above, according to embodiments of thedisclosure, authentication can be performed through an irisauthentication, even when a face authentication fails due to a change ina user’s appearance and surrounding environment.

Also, according to embodiments of the disclosure, a face authenticationor an iris authentication can be selectively utilized depending on adistance between a user and a camera, thereby improving anauthentication success rate.

Further, according to embodiments of the disclosure, a user can selectan appropriate authentication method according to a feedback provided bya vehicle.

Although embodiments have been described for illustrative purposes,those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications,additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from thescope and spirit of the disclosure. Therefore, embodiments have not beendescribed for limiting purposes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle comprising: a camera; and a controllerconfigured to: determine a distance between the camera and a face of anobject based on a face image acquired by the camera; perform an irisauthentication based on the distance being shorter than a presetdistance; and perform a face authentication based on the distance beinggreater than the preset distance.
 2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is configured to identify positions of eyes of the object inthe face image and control the camera to zoom in on the positions of theeyes of the object to perform the iris authentication.
 3. The vehicle ofclaim 1, further comprising a user interface, wherein, in response to afailure of the face authentication, the controller is configured tocontrol the user interface to provide a visual feedback or an audiblefeedback for guiding the face of the object to approach the camera andperform the iris authentication after providing the visual feedback orthe audible feedback.
 4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein, based on asimilarity score between a reference face image and the face image thatcauses the failure of the face authentication being greater than orequal to a preset score and the iris authentication being successful,the controller is configured to store the face image that causes thefailure of the face authentication as an additional reference face imagethat is a determination criterion for the face authentication.
 5. Thevehicle of claim 1, further comprising a distance sensor having adetection direction corresponding to a field of view of the camera,wherein the controller is configured to perform the iris authenticationbased on a distance to an obstacle measured through the distance sensorbeing less than or equal to a reference distance.
 6. The vehicle ofclaim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect eyes, a nose,and a mouth of the object based on the face image and perform the irisauthentication based on the eyes of the object being detected from theface image and the nose or the mouth of the object not being detectedfrom the face image.
 7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controlleris configured to determine whether the object is wearing a mask based onthe face image and perform the iris authentication based on adetermination that the object is wearing the mask.
 8. The vehicle ofclaim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the distancebetween the camera and the face of the object based on sizes of the faceor eyes of the object detected from the face image.
 9. The vehicle ofclaim 1, further comprising a contact sensor provided on a door handle,wherein the controller is configured to wake up the camera based on acontact detected by the contact sensor.
 10. The vehicle of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to unlock a door based on the faceauthentication or the iris authentication being successful.
 11. Acontrol method of a vehicle, the control method comprising: acquiring aface image of an object through a camera; and performing a faceauthentication or an iris authentication based on the face image,wherein performing the face authentication or the iris authenticationcomprises: determining a distance between the camera and a face of theobject based on the face image; performing the iris authentication basedon the distance being shorter than a preset distance; and performing theface authentication based on the distance being greater than the presetdistance.
 12. The control method of claim 11, wherein performing theiris authentication comprises: identifying positions of eyes of theobject in the face image; and performing the iris authentication aftercontrolling the camera to zoom in on the positions of the eyes of theobject.
 13. The control method of claim 11, further comprising:providing a visual feedback or an audible feedback for guiding the faceof the object to approach the camera based on a failure of the faceauthentication; and performing the iris authentication after providingthe visual feedback or the audible feedback.
 14. The control method ofclaim 13, further comprising, based on a similarity score between areference face image and the face image that causes the failure of theface authentication being greater than or equal to a preset score andthe iris authentication being successful, storing the face image thatcauses the failure of the face authentication as an additional referenceface image that is a determination criterion for the faceauthentication.
 15. The control method of claim 11, wherein performingthe face authentication or the iris authentication comprises performingthe iris authentication based on a distance to an obstacle measuredthrough a distance sensor being less than or equal to a referencedistance, wherein the distance sensor has a detection directioncorresponding to a field of view of the camera.
 16. The control methodof claim 11, wherein performing the face authentication or the irisauthentication comprises: detecting eyes, a nose, or a mouth of theobject based on the face image; and performing the iris authenticationbased on the eyes of the object being detected from the face image andthe nose or the mouth of the object not being detected from the faceimage.
 17. The control method of claim 11, wherein performing the faceauthentication or the iris authentication comprises: determining whetherthe object is wearing a mask based on the face image; and performing theiris authentication based on a determination that the object is wearingthe mask.
 18. The control method of claim 11, wherein determining thedistance between the camera and the face of the object comprisesdetermining the distance between the camera and the face of the objectbased on sizes of the face or eyes of the object detected from the faceimage.
 19. The control method of claim 11, further comprising waking upthe camera based on a contact detected by a contact sensor provided on adoor handle.
 20. The control method of claim 11, further comprisingunlocking a door based on the face authentication or the irisauthentication being successful.